Tag Archives: toenail

Yesterday, I stayed home from the bookstore because I had a sore toe. And because I could. When one is not getting any money for working, it’s easy to make the decision not to go to work!

I had noticed on Tuesday that my big toe was a little sore…I attributed it to arthritis, and basically ignored it…just another bonus of being 50! It was Wednesday night before I actually looked at it…be thankful I have chosen not to gross you out with a photo!

This is how my toe looked...and yes, I really drew this myself! Try to hide your amazement...

The skin around the base of my toenail was puffy and an angry shade of red. The toe itself looked about 25% bigger than its sister on my left foot…not good!

Then I made the mistake of showing it to Jim, who, sweet as he is, has inherited worrying from his lovely parents! “That looks awful!” he said. “If I had a toe that looked like that, I’d be in BIG trouble!” For those of you who don’t know, Jim is a Type 1 diabetic…it would be a concern for him. But I’m not diabetic! “If that doesn’t get better, we’d better take you to the after-hours clinic!”

I basically told him not to worry, and then spent the rest of the night doing just that…sigh…

Thursday morning, I told Jim and my dad that I was staying home because I had a sore toe and wanted to take care of it (I think my exact words to Jim were “You freaked me out about my toe, and now I’m going to stay home and soak it!”). Dad went to his room and brought out a big bag of epsom salts for me. He and Anna left for town without me. Jim drove the rest of the kids to school, and went to work. I went back to bed and slept for THREE more glorious hours!

I awakened about ten a.m., and went downstairs. I would make my breakfast (toad in the hole) and cook my rice for supper (I was making chicken fried rice, and needed to cook the rice ahead of time) before I soaked my foot.

I put the rice on, and quickly cooked breakfast, pouring a cup a tea to drink with it. I went into the back kitchen and retrieved a plastic ice cream bucket (luckily, one of the square ones). I ran a couple of inches of very hot water into it, and poured in a generous bunch of epsom salts. I was about to sit down at the computer to eat my breakfast and soak my toe, when I remembered a towel (I always forget that until after I have dunked my foot in the water!). I grabbed one of Jake’s dog towels from the closet (old ones that are too ratty for public display), and sat down.

I poked my toe carefully into the hot water, and nearly kicked over the bucket because it was so hot! It was at least ten minutes before it was cool enough…I took the opportunity to Google my condition while I waited…

Looking at the pictures (which I don’t recommend doing while one is eating), it appeared that I was nursing a fungal infection of my toenail. I vaguely remembered having a problem with the same toe as a teenager in which my toenail actually cracked and part of it fell off! Could I have been harbouring that same infection for the last 35 years? Apparently…

Correspondents on the Internet suggested all manner of home remedies including pouring straight bleach on the toe (OWWW!) and applying Vicks Vaporub (it’s fungus, not a chest cold!). I opted for more traditional methods like epsom salts, anbiotic and hydrocortisone creams instead.

About 2:30, Jim called to see how I was doing. He also mentioned that Devin’s girlfriend was coming over after school…my “jammy day” turned into a “I’d better have a shower because we’re having company day”!

By the time the kids came home from school, I was clean and wearing clothes at least, having hobbled up the stairs to achieve that! Dev’s girlfriend, K, appeared not to notice the pains I had gone to, and they went right to Devin’s room and shut the door after the obligatory “Hi” to the parental unit. It was suppertime before I saw them again.

Note to self…hold out for the “converted” or “parboiled” rice…do not buy the regular “long grain” because you’re too cheap. My chicken fried rice was way too mushy, and I was disappointed! Jim ate all of his, but he used to eat “Minute Rice” and “Sidekicks” before I got hold of him!

After we ate, Jim and Brianna left for town to do some Christmas shopping and pick up Anna at cheerleading practice. Hope and I watched the premiere of Candy Queen on the PVR (regular readers know I’m addicted to food shows). I only watched that episode before deciding I wasn’t going to watch any more. The “Candy Queen” was almost as much of a “princess” as her customers (and I don’t mean that in a good way!), and I didn’t think her work was that wonderful! We opted to watch a PVR’d American Pickers after that…Dad and I enjoyed that one!

Once Jim and the other girls got home, we watched the Big Bang Theory which was also PVR’d…I don’t know what we’d do without it…love fast forwarding through the commercials! Leonard confronted one of his childhood bullies, and Penny was exposed as being a bully herself! Good stuff…bravo to BBT for taking on this important topic!

Before going to bed, I carefully slathered my toe with hydrocortisone cream and wrapped it in three Band-Aids.

This morning when I pulled the Band-Aids off, my toe looked much the same as it had when I’d gone to bed…however, I was happy to see a bit of blood on one of the Band-Aids…at least the medicine would be able to penetrate now. I soaked it again while I ate my bagel, and rebandaged it. I wore shoes to the bookstore, but replaced them with sandals once we arrived there…still pretty tender!